Edelstein: Adopt Levy Report, Despite Election Season

The fact that elections are on the way does not mean that the government should not discuss the Levy Report, says Minister Edelstein.

By Elad Benari & Hezki Ezra

First Publish: 10/17/2012, 3:14 AM

Yuli Edelstein in Beit Aryeh

Yoni Kempinski

The fact that the Knesset has dissolved and elections are on the way does not mean that the government should not discuss the Levy Report, says Minister Yuli Edelstein.

A government-appointed panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Edmund Levy, concluded in July that there is no “occupation” and international law allows Jews to live in Judea and Samaria, as its status was not that of a nation in 1967.

Edelstein told Arutz Sheva that he believes there is a reasonable chance that the government will indeed discuss the Levy Report during the Knesset’s election recess. He added that Netanyahu had promised to convene the ministerial committee for settlement to discuss the report after the period of the Jewish holidays, which ended last week.

Edelstein said he had written a letter to Netanyahu, asking that this discussion take place promptly.

“I called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to immediately bring the report of the Levy Commission to a discussion and hopefully to a vote in the ministerial committee on Judea and Samaria,” said Edelstein.

“I think it’s very important for this government to make sure that the decisions made by the Levy Committee do not just remain theoretical but are made part of the government policy in Judea and Samaria, in order to enable us to strengthen that need government assistance,” he added.